Graeme Codrington wakes us up to the specifics of tomorrow

Which characteristics of Generation Y should meetings take into account?
· They expect more control, valuing freedom and choice in everything they do. Companies need to involve younger staff more at the planning stage if they want to get buy-in to the conference objectives.
· They want work-life balance. Companies may be tempted to cut costs by reducing the number of “extras”. This would be counter productive. Gen Yers love travel and experiencing new destinations. Remove this “life” balance and they may disengage from the meeting.
· The meeting must include more media: not simply screens and video presentations, but multiple learning and communication styles. Programmes and content have to take this into account. Sitting through lecture style presentations is counter productive.
· They have superb skill using digital tools. They expect blogs, wikis, YouTube, Facebook and “Web 2.0” collaborative tools to be utilised everywhere.
· They will appreciate it when things are customised and personalised for them.
· They expect to be assisted (but not patronised). They have grown up in the shadow of “helicopter parents”. They are used to having things done for them. They will be very demanding delegates, and will need assistance.
· They love variety. They don´t like being on one assignment too long.
This can create resentment from an older generation, but a lot of what will work for the younger generation will actually be appreciated by the older staff members too, and will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the meetings.

A lot of what will work for Gen Y will be appreciated by the older staff members

Gen Y is very mature in terms of Internet usage. Will they come to events?
They enjoy technology and will always choose to use it when they can. Banning Facebook use in an office is the equivalent of telling your older staff that they can´t use their rolodex.
Where possible, Gen Y will replace meetings with digital communications. They don´t understand why face-to-face is required when all that needs to happen is the dissemination of information. However, they also know that creativity and innovation happen when people are put together. They understand that relationships can be developed over the Net, but are cemented by spending time together. So, if the meeting is more than just an excuse for senior management to lecture them, if the programme allows space for them to collaborate, contribute, relate, innovate, they will flock to meetings and give them full energy.

How would you say the current industry address this target audience (are we doing THAT bad??)?
I actually think the industry does quite well at the moment. But there is a significant challenge lying ahead when dealing trying to help clients deal with these younger team members. For meetings to be successful at connecting with Gen Y, there will need to be important changes in the style, content and structure of meetings. To help clients ensure that these changes are successfully implemented, meeting planners should be prepared to do more than simply implement the client´s brief – they should take some responsibility for shaping it, too, and for helping their clients understand some of the shifts taking place. In other words, they can add significant additional value by going beyond implementation, to being co-creators of the meeting experience. One easy way to achieve this is to tap into the Gen Y team members in their own companies.